Friday, October 29, 2010

Came across a fantastic blog (http://www.urbansketchers.com/) filled entirely with pictures of sketchbooks, most of which are sketches of city scenes in varying degrees of detail.

This is a direct link to a Flickr image from a Brit sketcher who is (was?) fascinated by American fireplugs, as they've not got them in the UK, but most of the sketches are wider street views, with a little story of what was going on at the time, whether the person was traveling or local, etc. Many of the photos link to the artist's personal collection of images. Hard to go wrong.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Writing is the profession of the unprofessional, the calling of those who couldn't hear God even if He retained any interest in them. Writing is what keeps the half-dead from being buried. Poetry is what lies beneath the wreckage of hope. Writing is the canary in the psychosexual coal mine. Writing is how the impotent throw a fuck into the rest of us. Writing is the demonic, barbaric yawp of the inarticulate, the angry scream of the animal that stupidly stepped into a leg trap that they figured wouldn't snap this time.

So, spare us your wit. Spare us your well-wrought verse, your clinical analyses of the ills of society, all rooted in a dream that things could be better, if only humans might recognize their true potential. You haven't lived long enough. May you have no hope before you get old. And then have hope for this reason- sometimes strangers surprise you. Sometimes women open their legs for you. Sometimes friends aren't embarassed by their friendship. Sometimes jokes are funny. Sometimes conversations are enough to live for. If you want utopia, that's where you'll find it. Not in politics or parties. Not in marriages or families. Not in anything enduring. We have no idea what we're doing. Nothing man-made is "sustainable". We do nothing higher than worship. And, if you must worship, then two minutes of human contact is surely worth a mass.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Just watched this last night, I can't think of any better reason for the existence of the internet. This is such an excellent film, on so many levels, and were it not for the internet and this slippery beast of electronic media distribution, I would never have seen or heard of it. In Russian, from 1986. IMDB shows a Japanese release in 1991.

After you've watched it, and asked yourself where it's been all your life, and how people on Earth ever know who to squat to and how many times, next ask yourself if you know of a better way to get gems like these out and about.

Just so you are forewarned, the film is a bit longer than average, although it does have an intermission, complete with visual break, calming music, and glossary of alien terms. Since YouTube has it in sections, that won't be a huge problem, although they may have started a thing that makes the next section start playing automagically when one ends, so keep an eye on that. It's about 2h10m, all told.